I share a lot of links on Twitter and Facebook that I don’t blog about because I don’t have much to add. The reading list is a periodic feature where I share those links with my blog audience too. Of course, you’re still welcome to follow me on Twitter.

• “Minneapolis Police Seek Help to Solve Death of 30-Year-Old American Indian Woman“–“Police say Anderson was beaten in the early morning hours of September 3, 2015. Police were summoned to East Lake Street and 12^th Avenue South where they discovered the badly beaten Anderson, who was unconscious when police arrived.”
• “Who Gives Peace to the Peacemakers?“–“This is the price of being a peacemaker: You end up sacrificing part of your life, while others can go on acting like they always have.“
• “Whimsical Gifts (for people you hate), 2015“–“All those inadvertant bad gifts are your camouflage. Adhere to a certain degree of subtlety, and no one needs to know that your goal here was to make your target unhappy with your Simple Sabotage Christmas largesse.”
• “Police cars belong to the public, not to God“–“We all must be able to trust that the police will respond to our needs the same regardless of our religious beliefs, and it’s more difficult to trust that this will happen when the police themselves take a religious position.”
• “Carrie Fisher on Her Return to ‘Star Wars’“–“Tell them that a giant slug captured me and forced me to wear that stupid outfit, and then I killed him because I didn’t like it. And then I took it off. Backstage.”
• “You’re not required to try to understand his issues. You’re not required to forgive him for harassing you because he feels insecure. You’re not required to invest time and energy in trying to make him feel better about himself. ” Read more.
• “Remain Calm: Kissing Bugs Are Not Invading the US“–“I also checked with several Insect Diagnostic Clinics around the US. Everyone agreed: There is no evidence that new infections of Chagas are increasing in the US, or that the insects that transmit the disease have increased or changed their range. The disease itself is extremely rare; fewer than 40 human infections have occurred in the US since 1955.”
• “Drug War’s Impact on Black Women Comes to the Fore in Daniel Holtzclaw Trial“–“By Tuesday evening, which marked day 16 of the trial and saw the 13 accusers taking the stand against Holtzclaw in the Oklahoma County courthouse, a pattern of alleged abuse had emerged that not only highlighted Black women’s vulnerability to police brutality, but also called into question the ways in which the ‘war on drugs’ has disproportionately impacted Black women.”
• “The Profound Emptiness of ‘Resilience’“–“But where ‘’resilience’’ can suggest new avenues for civic infrastructure — admitting that disaster can’t always be diverted and shifting the focus to survival strategies — it is indistinguishable from classic American bootstrap logic when it is applied to individuals, placing all the burden of success and failure on a person’s character.”
• “The Limitations of Teaching ‘Grit’ in the Classroom“–“Howard said that exposure to trauma has a profound impact on cognitive development and academic outcomes, and schools and teachers are woefully unprepared to contend with these realities. Children dealing with traumatic situations should not been seen as pathological, he argued. Instead, educators need to recognize the resilience they are showing already.”
• “Should Atheists Celebrate Christmas? The Social Justice Angle“–“Yes, different atheists have different ways of handling religion and its intrusions into everyday life. There are lots of reasons for that. But one of the big ones is: How much do they rely on a social support system that’s structured around religion?”
• “Why the assassination of Fred Hampton matters today“–“In the hallowed American tradition of going after youthful black power and excellence, and stopping them in their tracks, the FBI took out the Black Panthers. And they took out Fred Hampton.”
• “Why ‘Prayer Shaming’ Is a Red Herring“–“I hardly even know what to say to this. I’m not sure that it’s substantively different from the standard refrain of ‘Stop politicizing tragedies,’ but it goes even further: It attempts to blame people who are standing up and saying, ‘To hell with this, enough is enough,’ for the polarization that makes compromise difficult in places like Congress.”
• “Rejected Princesses: Stephanie St. Clair (1897-1969)“–“She attacked and destroyed the storefronts of any business that ran Schultz’s betting operations. She tipped the police off to Schultz’s operations – which led to them raiding his clearing house, arresting 14 employees, and seizing around $2 million. She then bragged about it in the press because she gave somewhere in the neighborhood of zero fucks.”
• “Missouri State Rep Files Bill to Put Gun Sales Under Exact Same Restrictions as Abortions“–“Gun buyers would also have to watch a 30-minute video ‘on fatal firearm injuries’ and verify in writing that he or she viewed the entire video ‘in the presence of a licensed firearm dealer.'”
• “Posner Eviscerates Scalia. Again.“–“‘But who knows? Maybe he’ll now cease voting to strike down statutes under any provision of the Constitution, as otherwise he might be thought of as one of those “unelected lawyers” who so threaten our democracy. Not only an unelected lawyer, but — a patrician.'”
• “HUGE NEWS! Science for the People Joins the Skepchick Fam“–“Now, you’ll get to know Rachelle as she officially joins Skepchick as a regular writer! She’ll be posting articles here along with each new episode of Science for the People (starting with today’s!), giving you a more in-depth look at that week’s topic.”
• “2nd Amendment Night Before Christmas“–“He ducked his broad head, so I aimed at his belly, but the bullets bounced off like marshmallows off jelly.”
• “End the Gun Epidemic in America“–“But at least those countries are trying. The United States is not. Worse, politicians abet would-be killers by creating gun markets for them, and voters allow those politicians to keep their jobs.”
• “Obama looks to use executive power to close gun loophole“–“In one of a series of near-party-line procedural votes, the Senate by 54 to 45 blocked a proposal by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would have stopped people on the government’s anti-terrorist ‘no fly’ list from buying guns. Republican opponents said that the no-fly list includes too many errors to be used for preventing gun sales.”
• “PayPal, Square and big banking’s war on the sex industry“–“What’s happening to female entrepreneurs in the sex business can no longer be written off as isolated incidents. Weblining’s targeted populations are porn performers, sex workers, independent retailers, erotic writers and the internet’s new generation of online pornographers: business sectors comprised of a disproportionately large number of women and LGBT people.”
• “Liberty University President: ‘If More Good People’ Had Concealed Guns, ‘We Could End Those Muslims’“–“‘I’ve never received more support or a more positive response from anything I have ever said in Convocation before,’ Falwell told Glenn Beck’s The Blaze.”
• “Bi Any Means Podcast #27: Islam, Racism, and Terrorism“–“My guest for today is Kiran Opal. She is one of the co-founders of the Ex-Muslims of North America, and she has written for several websites, including The Ex-Muslim and Ex-Communications. Today we’ll be chatting about her life, her work, and of course, Islam.”